Photoshoot with Finding Femme Fashion Blogger Liana Skewes

Today the super lovely, Liana of fashion blog Finding Femme and I caught up to do a photo shoot in preparation for the upcoming Off Camera Flash Workshop that I’m running as a part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. It’s so nice to work with someone who is comfortable in front of the camera & totally passionate about what they do, so Liana & I spent a quick but wonderful moment around Federation University Campus this afternoon as I played with light so I could show you guys some of the stuff I plan to teach as part of this workshop.

We are totally lucky to have Liana working with us on the day of the workshop to do a shoot with her, so don’t miss out on this one!!

The first part of the workshop we’ll be doing some cool experiments with multiple flash set ups, that are created as a single frame in camera, but look like they are photoshopped. I’m a huge fan of doing stuff in camera, rather than spending hours at the computer afterwards, so any tricks like the ones I’ll be teaching on the day are a bonus for your skill bank. The promo shot of me doubled (photo below) you may have seen on social media as the promo for this workshop is an example of what can be done in camera in one frame, without needing photoshop!

But on to the MUCH better subject matter of my shoot with Liana today in preparation for the Flash Photography Workshop. Check out some of the photos below. The first is an example of using white balance & coloured gels to alter the colour temperature of a photograph. Being winter & with the backdrop of the eery trees, I wanted to highlight that cold feeling with colour temperature adjustments. We’ll be going through this at the workshop & hopefully it will give you loads of ideas & ways to further play with colour & creativity in your own photography.

Then we went back to the original colour temperature as Liana ditched the coat (we don’t want her looking cold without being rugged up!) and played around with a bunch more poses. All in all, the shoot took about 30 minutes, but we’ll be working through things slowly on the day of the workshop, with plenty of time for understanding where we are placing lights and why and giving everyone a chance to create their own shots with Liana.

At the end of the shoot, we’ll be reviewing all the shots & Liana will be choosing her favourite images to feature on her blog with a link back to each selected photographers flicker / social media / website profiles. You’ll be in with a chance to have your work seen by thousands of her followers & fashion brands!

And if you’re not convinced understanding flash can change your photographic life, the photo below is a comparison example of what these shots would have looked like only using natural light in this spot (left) compared to understanding flash (centre & right)… 😉

Michelle’s infectious passion for photography infused each session with extremely accessible information which built and layered with each weeks exercises. Besides learning what the camera was capable of and how to switch to manual for good, I found I was seeing differently and noticing the world in a different way. I thoroughly recommend Michelle and her professionally run, fun MDP DSLR courses. Just do it!!

Bron

“We got the package! sooooooooooooooo HAPPY! great job!…Such a great DVD ! WOW ! You guys let us see what we missed!”

Bec & Steve July 2013

“I just got my wedding photos and video back from Michelle and Alison. They blew me away. I cannot recommend these girls enough. They made my day so special in every way. They accommodated my every need and made me feel so relaxed. Even when I had a “moment” Michelle was there to make it all better. The video made me cry and the photos are out of this world. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me! X”

Caz & Andrew 02/2013

“At Designer Candy we rely heavily on our magazine advertising to attract new customers. The quality of photography and attention to detail displayed my Michelle Dunn was second to none. We would recommend Michelle to look after all your photographic needs, so much so we have booked her for our wedding day!”

Matt & Gemma, Designer Candy

“This course gave me a really good understanding of how my camera works and provided the skills I need to be able to photograph well in a range of settings and has given me the confidence to take my camera of Auto mode.”